This is an interesting article about an employee bringing in his person PC and attaching it to his employers network. Then somebody finds child pornography on it. He is now in jail (where he belongs(personal opinion))...

This is a nightmare for an admin as well. "Joe Employee" brings his home computer in and connects to the corporate network and who knows what wonderful "goodies' he can spread on the corporate lan.

Not too mention the corporate espionage he can do. Not that a 4 gig thumbdrive wouldn't be sufficient.

April 19th, 2007, 07:59 AM

nihil

Seems like a good call to me.

1. The cop wasn't acting in his capacity as a cop, but as a software engineer.
2. The reported problem was a file sharing violation.
3. The application he looked at was filesharing?

When he discovered the illegal material a warrant was duly obtained.

An unprotected computer attached to a public network in a public office really must be considered as being in "plain view"?

April 19th, 2007, 07:59 AM

jockey0109

Well did that employee ever answered why he brought that PC to the office?

April 19th, 2007, 08:40 AM

nihil

Yes,

Quote:

When Michael Barrows was the treasurer for the city of Glencoe, Okla., he shared a workspace with the city clerk including a computer that both used to access city records. Because sharing one computer was inconvenient, Barrows brought in his own computer from home and placed it on the shared desk.

I would have thought they could have run to a second machine? Looking up city records isn't exactly resource demanding.

April 19th, 2007, 11:01 AM

Aardpsymon

Screw the implications of the network access, several places I have worked you can't bring anything from home because of electrical safety. They all have to have those test tags to show they are safe. This is because if you bring in say your ps2 and someone else uses it and it kills them (I have no idea how it would, but anyway) they can actually sue the workplace even though it is your ps2.

April 19th, 2007, 12:14 PM

acidtone

Quote:

Originally Posted by Aardpsymon

several places I have worked you can't bring anything from home because of electrical safety. They all have to have those test tags to show they are safe. This is because if you bring in say your ps2 and someone else uses it and it kills them (I have no idea how it would, but anyway) they can actually sue the workplace even though it is your ps2.

I take it that you live in America..? ;)

April 19th, 2007, 01:15 PM

nihil

Hi, Aard~ is spot on.

Quote:

I take it that you live in America..?

no, that is English law, and probably true of the EU as they are mad keen on health and safety in the workplace.

I don't know the exact rules (it doesn't apply to mice and keyboards ;)) but it certainly applies to anything that connects to the mains electricity supply which is 13Amp 240v for wall sockets and 5Amp 240v for lighting.

The principles are quite old in English Law:

1. If somebody breaks into your premises and is electricuted by a faulty light switch..............you are liable!

2. An employee is an "agent" of their employer and he is liable for their actions.

They just finished all the tests here. They did EVERYTHING. Printers, computers, print servers, switches....luckily they only made a visual inspection of the core stuff.

We are a bit loose with it here we do bring in stuff from home occasionally. But technically we shouldn't.

April 19th, 2007, 10:31 PM

mmelby

I work in health care in the US and our Plant Operation department goes around and checks and tags all the equipment regularly (I think they only have to tag medical equipment). People are not supposed to bring anything from home but I think sometimes they do, until a manager sees it. :)